The Fifth District affirmed sexual battery and strangulation convictions, finding that the victim’s testimony, corroborated by SANE nurse examination, supported the trial court’s credibility determination in a bench trial.
The Third District reversed eight of nine rape convictions involving a minor victim, holding that the State failed to present sufficient evidence to distinguish each count as a separate act, while affirming convictions on one rape count and two gross sexual imposition counts.
The Third District affirmed a conviction under R.C. 4511.204, Ohio’s distracted driving statute, rejecting constitutional challenges based on equal protection, due process, and vagueness, and holding that holding a phone for GPS navigation while driving violates the statute.
The Eleventh District reversed and remanded for resentencing, holding that the trial court violated the defendant’s right of allocution by repeatedly interrupting her personal statement and preventing her from reading it herself, particularly where the court then penalized her perceived lack of remorse.
The Twelfth District reversed a murder sentence that included ‘lifetime parole supervision,’ holding that no Ohio statute authorizes a trial court to impose such a condition and clarifying the distinction between imposing parole terms and notifying defendants of parole eligibility.
The Twelfth District reversed the trial court’s denial of a noncitizen defendant’s motion to withdraw his no-contest plea, holding that the court was required to apply the Strickland two-prong test when the motion was premised on counsel’s failure to advise of immigration consequences under Padilla v. Kentucky.